Is America Still a Serious Country?

Well, it looks like Donald Sterling will not be getting that NAACP lifetime achievement award he was set to receive at the civil rights organization’s 100th anniversary celebration in Los Angeles in May.

Allegedly, Sterling’s 30-something girlfriend, a model who goes by the name of V. Stiviano, whom Sterling’s wife of 50 years is suing, taped these remarks of the 80-year-old owner of the L.A. Clippers: “You can sleep with [black people]. You can bring them in, you can do whatever you want. The little I ask you is not to promote it … and not to bring them to my games. … Don’t put him [Magic Johnson] on an Instagram for the world to have to see … and don’t bring him to my games.”

This rant of the octogenarian owner swept the canonization of Popes John XXIII and John Paul II right off of page one of the New York Times, whose headline blared: “Amid Uproar, Clippers Silently Display Solidarity.” The Times story told of how Clippers’ players turned their warm-up sweatshirts inside out and donned black socks and black wristbands in protest of Sterling’s remarks. Not exactly John Lewis at Selma Bridge. And, still, the Clippers got waxed in the playoff game against the Golden State Warriors. But the Times was not nearly done with this monstrous moral outrage, which even elicited the indignation of President Obama in Malaysia. The banner across the entire sports section of the Times read: “Vortex of Outrage Trails Clippers Owner.” A photo of the team standing solemnly in their red warm-up suits covered half the page, and two Times‘ columnists decried the horror.

Wrote Michael Powell of Sterling: He stands “exposed as a gargoyle, disgorging racial and sexual animosities so atavistic as to take the breath away.” Finally getting his breath back, Powell went on: “The Clippers players and coaches are no doubt mortified to have awakened in the midst of a playoff run to find that they are working for the Bull Connor of Southern California.” But how could Sterling be the Bull Connor of California when he has a girlfriend who describes herself as black and Mexican, hired a black coach for his Clippers, Doc Rivers, and pays his players, mostly black, millions of dollars a year? If memory serves, Bull Connor was into using fire hoses, billy clubs and German Shepherds on civil rights demonstrators in his hometown of Birmingham. Sterling regularly sits courtside to cheer on the predominantly black team he has proudly owned for 33 years. His rant sounds rather like an old guy mortified and humiliated at seeing his girlfriend, half his age, on TV and the Internet, making a fool of him, with black men—in public. As for the girlfriend, or ex-girlfriend now, she allegedly taped the conversation without his knowledge, a violation of state law. But there is apparently much more to this story than the rant, as the Times‘ Billy Witz relates: “In 2009, Sterling paid a $2.725 million settlement in a lawsuit brought by the Justice Department accusing him of systematically driving African-Americans, Latinos and families with children out of apartment buildings he owned.”

Why did the league not deal with Sterling then, for an offense far more grievous than a phone call to his girlfriend to stop making a fool of him with Magic Johnson? Former NBA great Elgin Baylor, his former general manager, charged Sterling in a lawsuit with running a “Southern plantation-type structure” as boss of the Clippers. And Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post reports on far nastier remarks, as she writes that Sterling said of blacks in 2002 that they “smell and aren’t clean.” “That quote,” says Jenkins, “comes from sworn testimony in a 2002 slumlording case against Sterling for discriminating against tenants, not just blacks but also Hispanics, whom he called lazy drunks, and Koreans, whom he deemed too powerless to complain, according to statements compiled by Deadspin.com.”

“Sterling’s wormy mind,” writes Jenkins, has been “common knowledge among NBA owners and executives for years, as far back as 1983 when he allegedly called his own players the N-word during a job interview with Rollie Massimino conducted while drinking champagne.” “There is no room for Donald Sterling in our league,” says LeBron James. But that was this weekend. Which brings us to the unanswered questions.

How did Donald Sterling get away with behavior, in a professional sports league dominated by black players, which would get a college kid kicked out of school and scarred for life? Have they no morals clause in the NBA? How was Donald Sterling voted that lifetime achievement award by the NAACP? The answer to all likely lies in the adage: Follow the money.

Nevertheless, when nonsense like stupid racial remarks by Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and Clippers boss Donald Sterling can consume the nation’s conversation for a full week, it does raise a far more disturbing question: Is America still a serious country?

29 Responses to Is America Still a Serious Country?

Bread (food stamps, “Earned Income tax credit”, Affirmative action) and Circuses (NBA, NFL, Wrestling, Kardashians, “The Bachelor(ette)” and so on) liberally shoveled out to the voters to keep them numb while the elite sucks the country dry.

Mr. Buchanan writes: “Nevertheless, when nonsense like stupid racial remarks by Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and Clippers boss Donald Sterling can consume the nation’s conversation for a full week, it does raise a far more disturbing question: Is America still a serious country?”

“If the people are disaffected… it is in the interest of the king or aristocracy to keep them at a low level of intelligence and education, foment dissensions among them, and even prevent them from being too well off…”

In a country where (a majority of) the Supreme Court overrules decades of precedent supporting preclearance of any changes affecting elections by reference to unrelated dicta, and can say in other opinions that “The way to stop discriminating based on race is to stop discriminating based on race,” it is important to remind ourselves that race-blind attitudes are not as evenly distributed as we might like to think. It is equally important to remind ourselves that being racist still sits comfortably with being rich or powerful.

If you find it tawdry and unflattering to America, it is. But that’s exactly why the story is important.

This is nothing new! Two of the biggest stories in the 1990s were the OJ Simpson trial and Monica Lewisky. I figure if the population is busy with nonsense like Bundy or Sterling, it keeps their minds off of coming Ukrainian Civil War.

“Two of the biggest stories in the 1990s were the OJ Simpson trial and Monica Lewinsky”

Uh, the first was a trial for the murder of two people — a little different than asking a mistress, in private, to stop gallivanting around with black jocks, don’t you think? The second would have been a minor story, had not the President lied under oath.

“His rant sounds rather like an old guy mortified and humiliated at seeing his girlfriend, half his age, on TV and the Internet, making a fool of him, with black men—in public.”

Sir, why on earth a grand-pa wants relationship with a woman who could be viewed more like his grand-daughter or great-grand-daughter?

Is this where American dream stands before us?

At the age of 80, a man is supposed to prepare to meet with his creator; but in America, story is quite different for octogenarian men as we see actor George Clownish is now going to marry a woman half his age!

The condescending “bread and circuses” talk is all a bit much. Concerted resistance from the American people prevented Obama and Kerry from bombing Syria. Ministries and charities are mobilizing to help the tornado victims. Contrary to the self-congratulatory narrative on display here, Americans DO care about our country’s affairs and have proven it by their actions.

It’s also funny how Bundy was newsworthy right up until he proved to be racist with foot-in-mouth disease. Now it’s all “why are we wasting time talking about this guy?”

In my relatively long life, I’ve come to the conclusion (ok, no scientific study here, just anecdotal) that there are racists, and then there are gender racists. I’ve known many a person, who has no racial prejudice towards persons of another race of the opposite sex, but are clearly uncomfortable with and obviously threatened by persons of another race who are the opposite sex. This is true of both men and women.

I strongly disagree with putting the racial indiscretions of a baskeball team’s owner on par with Clive and his armed to the teeth supporters. One ain’t hardly serious at all, while the other is deadly serious. Who are the clippers again? They play basketball? Yeah, I like to play basketball too.
Sterling is a kind of victim entertainment for multi-millionaires and I here the n word at least three times a day and usually it is mf-n-b. No, it ain’t serious but you don’t want your kids coming home from school telling you what was learned them in that there neighborhood. But having friends, family and fellow citizens endure armed threats from flag waving cretons ain’t entertainment for nobody and looking down the barrel of a gun is about as serious as it gets until the pivot man freaks. We shouldn’t want to play around with pseudo patriots waving guns at unarmed government workers.
As far as serious goes, is it that liberal media bias putting that endless mind garbage in front of us as legitamate news, or is it the sponsors just burying serious issues under the inane to avoid the light shining on them. Like, are SNL celeb spoofing skits the only thing those lefty libs can put on, or is political humor frowned on by sponsors of the show?
As proven over and over again, and especially recently, the best thing for GOP spokespeople to do would be to not say anything and avoid looking the fool while drawing the attention of america to the fools they depend on to get elected. Bundy is hilarious talking about pickin cotton, but he ain’t so funny surrounded by all those armed wannabe nazi’s.

it is one of the silly things about freedom. We have only ourselves to blame. During the nineties and early 2000’s conservative men and women were about taping instructor lectures and then couching them in terms of being offended as to cause for complaint. It was wholly foolish. If you don’t like an instructor a course, bear it or drop the course. It is that simple.

Instead we were treated to the spectacle of public castigations.

The man is entitled to his views. He paid his players, gave to charity, and other asundary things that wealthy people do. He is even entitled to unpopular opinions. The NBA is a rather shallow whipped puppy dog.

How incredibly silly. The win move for the NAACP would have been to shun his comments but reward the behavior. The entire response has just helped foster nonengagement where people who should be engaged on issues will go through more lengths to obfiscate such dynamics. It’s not the person revealed who is dangerous. it’s the unknown.

Reprucussions:

I take it the NBA is going to ban players listening to music in the locker rooms which refer to women as anything save upstanding women of virtue.

The NBA is going ban the use of music in locker rooms that disparage police officers or whites, blacks, dogs, cats and mice.

The NBA is going to fine players for the use of abusive and colorful language on the court which disparages other players, refs and fans in public.

If the NBA is not going to protect private speech and personal space by decrying the rather tawdry use of personal recordings — in this case clear entrapment.

Then similar speech must be punished all ’round by all members of the NBA.

And on the score of inappropriate sentiments — players should be the last in line to call foul.

There’s taking the high road and there’s taking the low road in the hopes to be seen as taking the high road.

I am a little disappointed in your view about how did this happen. We live in a real world of imperfect human beings and we had better cease the growing clarion call to purge every verbal offense —

L’est we create the reality we fear. Purity at the expense speech. Freedom at the expense of a temporary emotional state which will pass.

Women and homosexuals have even converted blacks and that is depressing.

More depressing than anything else is the shift in the meaning/definition of racism. The term is understood as to the use of power to deny some right. And given what has been revealed thus far. The gentleman did no such thing. A fine for a nonexistent offense — is a tragic turn of events.

@cdugga, you nailed it. The Right dances around Bundy and tries to forget Timothy McVeigh. As for Sterling, lately, rich old men have been ignoring their PR people and speaking openly. Not much of a sign of business acumen.

America is a VERY serious country if you consider that race is THE issue throughout American history. Slavery is the Original Sin of America. Race pervades every aspect of American life, from sports (like this Stirling nonsense) to religion (JC in American Christianity doesn’t stand for Jesus Christ but rather Jim Crow).

And this is specifically an American thing too, you don’t get this obsession with race in other countries and cultures such as China for instance, where the Han Chinese didn’t commit the same sin.

“America is a VERY serious country if you consider that race is THE issue throughout American history. Slavery is the Original Sin of America.”

Perhaps the *preeminent* belief that keeps us from being a serious country.

Slavery existed since time immemorial, not least in Africa especially. And where it was attacked and outlawed and fought over first and most fiercely was precisely in the Christian, democratic West.

And yet it’s *our* Original Sin. It’s our ineradicable sin.

No, what it is today is often the ultimate non-serious issue, just as with this NBA business. It’s the issue that can be brought up in discussion of otherwise utterly race-free issues such as Rod Dreher’s recent talk about the behavior of some kids in some Baton Rouge schools, and just simply destroy any attempt if not the desire too to tackle the problem.

Worse than non-serious: Captious. Meretricious. Insidious.

And if Hooly thinks the Han Chinese are free of racism he oughta go talk to a few Tibetans or Uighers.

“It’s also funny how Bundy was newsworthy right up until he proved to be racist with foot-in-mouth disease. Now it’s all ‘why are we wasting time talking about this guy?’”

Exactly, but it doesn’t go far enough. When Bundy was a deadbeat scofflaw stealing from all Americans by refusing to pay for resources he was using but which clearly belonged to the Federal government, the “conservative” press (admittedly, not here on TAC) was falling all over itself to not only spotlight him as “newsworthy,” to not only defend him, but to glorify him. The degree of irresponsibility, as these, again, supposedly “conservative” deep thinkers fought over their place in line to “support” a guy who, the more intelligent among them admitted, did not have a legal leg to stand on, in his efforts to use force to prevent the enforcement of the law, was, to me, amazing.

Only when his “cotton pickin’,” deeply offensive, but, yes also stupid to the point of ridiculous, racism shown through, was he abandoned, reluctantly in many cases, by these same allegedly conservative scribes.

And now another conservative, ie Mr Buchanan (who, again, I admit, was never on the bandwagon in the first place), wonders what all the fuss is about.

Well, the fuss is about a prominent person, who was made prominent by the conservative media (with the caveat, to repeat again, that present company is excepted), who turns out to be a crackpot racist. If he had merely been a racist rancher, who warranted perhaps a paragraph in the paper because of his legal battles, his racism would not be highlighted, because he himself would not be highlighted. Even if his armed stand got him more publicity, if he had not been immediately elevated to hero status in the right wing press, the exposure of his racist feet of clay would be less noteworthy, and less noticed.

So, if you want to blame anybody for Bundy’s fifteen minutes of fame, go talk to Hannity, to RedState, to NRO, and so on.

As for the basketball guy, he is a different kettle of fish. The billionaire owner of a sports franchise is a public person. When it turns out that he too has virulent (if less colorful and preposterous) racist viewpoints, that’s news. Mostly sports news, but news nevertheless. And perhaps that’s a good thing…racism is now viewed as aberrant and unusual, not what is to be expected.

Then too, one has to wonder, of all the frivolousness in the media (many of which, such as the Kardashians, have been mentioned on this thread), why does the exposure of racists merit the broad, sweeping claims of “unseriousness?” Racism is at least a public issue. If it important in terms of society, culture, law, politics, etc. It is an issue in our courts, legislatures, water cooler conversations, and so on. I fail to see what is “unserious” about news relating, not to the personal life some Hollywood floozy, boy band boy, phony “reality” TV celebrity, and so on, but to racism in two prominent Americans.

America is Bizarro World. It’s upside down world. I think if Sterling was a murderer or a rapist he would be more acceptable to the NBA and its fans than to be tagged “a racist” just as those tagged “homophobes” now seem to be fair game to be driven from their jobs. Where does it lead? Thought Crimes like George Orwell described.